Wednesday, October 6, 1999
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weather  spotlighttoday's calendar |
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45 hurt, houses torched
in post-poll clashes |
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India not to attend CTBT
meeting HC pulls up police in Jessica case Include probation period in
seniority: SC Notices to NGOs: ministry
clarifies Telecast by DGs of paramilitary
forces stopped SC allows EC to mix ballots |
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45 hurt, houses torched in post-poll clashes MIDNAPORE, Oct 5 (UNI) — At least 45 people were injured, 20 of them seriously, and more than 100 houses torched and several hundred looted in a series of post-poll clashes between the rival supporters of CPM and BJP-Trinamool Congress combine which crippled the life in this district of West Bengal today. District Superintendent of Police M.K. Singh said violent clashes were reported from Keshpore, Salboni, Garhbeta, Lalgarh, Goaltore and Contai sub division of this South Bengal’s district since early morning. Vehicular traffic remained off the roads and market establishments downed their shutters. Educational institutions were also closed. At least 48 people had been arrested in this connection so far. A Purulia report said at least five party activists, including a woman, of the Trinamool Congress and CPM were seriously injured in a clash in the district yesterday. They were admitted to
the health centres. |
AIR news updates on phone, Internet NEW DELHI, Sep 5 (UNI) — The All-India Radio (AIR) has made elaborate arrangements for exhaustive and live coverage on the elections results for 36 hours. The Verdict-99 a round-the-clock programme will be put on air from Delhi, anchored by eminent media personalities and academicians. Correspondents from about 100 towns and cities will be hooked on live to provide news updates on the results, said a statement here today. Political commentators and analysts will give their opinion on emerging political scene from all corners of the country. AIR will be the only news organisation to cover the general elections this time on such a wide platform. AIR news updates will be available over the phone and Internet worldwide can also be browsed for the latest at www, allindiaradio. com apart from tuning in the AIR bulletins broadcast to four continents in 15 foreign languages besides English and Hindi. To get the latest about election news one can ring up 3324242 for news in Hindi) and 3324343 (for news in English). The latest party position and election highlights will also be available on FM channels at every hour. The programme,
Verdict-99 offers a bilingual format-Hindi and English.
It will go on air uninterrupted with newscasts at hourly
intervals, besides special and extended news bulletins in
Hindi and English at 0800, 0815, 1400, 1415, 2030 and
2100 hrs. The language bulletins originating from Delhi
and regional stations will however, be available as per
normal schedule. In addition, many special discussion and
bulletins in all regional languages will be broadcast
from the regional states to give the latest results and
analysis. |
IAF played stellar role in
Kargil GWALIOR, Oct 5 — The IAF created history of sorts in Kargil as it played a decisive role in flushing out Pakistan backed intruders from the treacherous heights they had captured in the remote regions of Jammu and Kashmir. It was for the first time that air power had been put to use at such altitudes and in the terrain which was not at all friendly for flying. IAF pilots used all their skills during "Operation Safed Sagar", which was part of Operation Vijay, to turn the tide in India’s favour. While initially IAF pilots, not being accustomed to the area, found it difficult to locate and destroy the targets, which were not only small by all standards but also scattered over a vast area. But then came a solution from IAF men working behind the scenes. Since the targets scattered over a vast region were to be specifically destroyed, dropping of extensive munition was only adding to the costs without much results. But the IAF engineers then improvised on the 1000 pound bombs by installing specially imported laser kits on them which proved to be lethal. The bombs them hit their targets with great effectiveness. They destroyed the targets as identified and this time with minimum use of air power. Briefing newsmen at the Air Force Station, Gwalior, Air Commodore P.S. Ahluwalia recalled that the clouds were a severe obstacle in regular operations. "Moreover the terrain on the enemy side was better than ours. The terrain had only snow and black rocks and the wind speed used to hover around 50 nautical miles, which adversely affected the ballistics of the weapon delivered," he said. In an audio visual presentation, the IAF brought out the difficulties it faced in identifying and destroying the targets. The newspersons were also shown the stellar role played by the IAF in Muntho Dhalo, Tiger Hill and the Mushkoh Valley. The intruders were holed up in sangars which made the task all the more difficult for the pilots. However the "engineer solutions" that were applied gave the IAF the upper hand. These engineer solutions were aimed at dodging enemy firepower, including red cameras and other modern avionics like night-tracking devices. Enhanced laser firing time, better communicating devices and other hi-tech gadgets were used giving the IAF a cutting edge, Commodore Ahluwalia said. He said precision-guided bombs were used only in inhospitable and treacherous terrains where visibility was virtually nil and target selection near impossible. He said Mirage-2000 fly-by-wire multi-role aircraft undertook ground attack and air defence missions. This breed was more lethal because it had incomparable manoeuvrability and sophisticated avionics sensor and it also had multi-mode radar to carry out defence missions. The Mirage particularly excelled in the Kargil operations in carrying out pin-point attacks by day and night. Commodore Ahluwalia said Pakistanis resorted to surface-to-air missile (SAM) on some occasions. "But our Pilots through their tactical ability rendered their efforts futile. The pilots displayed exemplary courage and common sense in carrying out operations along with the Army. The Commodore said that
the Chief of Air Staff was actively involved in the
operation. |
India not to attend CTBT
meeting NEW DELHI, Oct 5 — India today decided not to attend a special conference on the CTBT beginning in Vienna tomorrow. "India has decided not to respond to the intimation from the UN Secretary-General on behalf of the states ratifying the CTBT that non-signatories like India ‘may’ attend a special conference on CTBT being convened in Vienna on October 6-8, 1999", the Ministry of External Affairs spokesman said here. Given India’s
position on Article 14 and the fact that a broad
consensus on the issue of the CTBT will be a priority for
the new government, the government’s decision is
both logical and consistent, the spokesman stressed. |
HC pulls up police in Jessica case NEW DELHI, Oct 5 (PTI) — The Delhi police today told the High Court here that it would file an additional charge-sheet in the Jessica Lal murder case after examining some new aspects left out during the investigation. The Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Mr O.P. Mishra, gave this assurance to a Division Bench comprising Mr Justice Anil Dev Singh and Mr Justice R.S. Sodhi after the court expressed dissatisfaction over the reasons cited by the police for leaving out from the list of accused an employee of socialite Bina Ramani’s Tamarind Court restaurant where Lal was shot dead on April 30. After examining the employee, who had allegedly washed blood stains from the floor on the instruction of a guest, the police decided not to include him in the list as it was found that he had done it "unintentionally" as part of his routine job, Mr Mishra said. Pointing out from the recorded statement of the employee, the Bench told Mr Mishra, "Your explanation does not match with the statement of the man. In a sense, his statement is not properly recorded." The court adjourned to the hearing of the plea December 17. Seeking a CBI probe into the case, the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Morcha (BVM) alleged in a fresh application that from the beginning the police was "trying to hush up and twist the case as per the desire of top officials of the government because they are in one way or the other involved.... in some unlawful activities." BVM counsel Mohammed Sajid claimed that after Jessica Lal was shot at, Ramani "deliberately" avoided taking her to nearby government hospitals and took Lal first to a private nursing home and then to Apollo Hospital. When Lal was taken to Apollo Hospital at 4 p.m. she was declared ‘brought dead’ though the incident had taken place around midnight, he said. He alleged that police had not examined the car in which the "injured" Lal was taken to hospital, nor had they tried to find the cloth with which blood stains were wiped. "Both these aspects were very crucial for probing the case as washing the floor amounted to destruction of evidence," Mr Sajid said. Meanwhile, ACP Mishra
told the court that the immediate priority before the
police was to nab the main culprit and its entire focus
on this aspect. |
Include probation period in seniority: SC NEW DELHI, Oct 5 (PTI) — In a major ruling, the Supreme Court has held that an employee’s seniority would be inclusive of the period of probation or officiating appointments put by him before confirmation in service. "It is now well settled that even in cases of probation or officiating appointments which are followed by a confirmation, unless a contrary rule is shown, the service rendered as officiating appointment or on probation cannot be ignored for reckoning the place in the seniority list," a Division Bench of the court said. The Bench comprising Mr Justice S. Saghir Ahmad and Mr Justice R.P. Sethi gave this ruling while allowing two petitions by police officers from Manipur and directed the state government to "treat the officiating appointments of them as the date of their regular appointment and refix their seniority in terms of the observations made in this judgement." The Bench said:
"Where the first appointment is made by not
following the prescribed procedure and such appointee is
approved later on, the approval would mean his
confirmation by the authority shall relate back to the
date on which his appointment was made and the entire
service will have to be computed in reckoning the
seniority according to the length of continuous
officiation." |
Notices to NGOs: ministry
clarifies NEW DELHI, Oct 5 — The Union Home Ministry today said notices were issued to some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which had received foreign contribution but were associated with work of political nature. The ministry said show cause notices have been issued to some NGOs since as per Section 6 (1) of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976, registration granted to NGOs permits an association to accept foreign contribution to further any cultural, economic, educational, religious or social programme, undertaken by it. It said in terms of the provisions of Section 5 (1) of the Act, no organisation of a political nature, not being a political party, shall accept any foreign contribution except with the prior permission of the Central Government. The ministry said that it came to the Government’s notice that in the run-up to the ongoing general elections, some association registered under the Act were found to have been associated with the release of certain advertisements in the press and with certain documents, the contents of which are comments of a political nature. There were reports that the Home Ministry had directed NGOs like the Voluntary Action Network India, the Indian Social Institute, the Kali for Women and Centre for Women’s Development Studies, the NGOs which were connected with ‘Communalist combat" and inserted advertisments in newspapers which were said to be against the Sangh Parivar ideology. The Home Ministry denied the allegation that the notices were issued selectively and were due to "some extraneous reasons’’ as the report said. The ministry said that these associations had been asked to reply within 30 days as to why they should not obtain prior permission before accepting any foreign contribution and be notified as an organisation of a political nature, not being a political party under the provisions of Section 5 (1) of the Act. The notices issued to
these associations were in conformity with the provisions
of the Act. |
Telecast by DGs of paramilitary forces stopped NEW DELHI, Oct 5 (UNI) —Doordarshan has decided to permit national telecasts only by the chiefs of the Indian Air Force, the Navy and the Army and henceforth stop telecasts by Director-generals of the paramilitary forces on their raising days. Confirming this, a Doordarshan source said the decision had been taken at the level of the chief executive officer. It was felt that Director-general of various All-India organisations would demand telecast time if the practice of allowing the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the Border Security Force and the Central Reserve Police Force was continued. The ITBP has strongly
protested against this decision and said this is the
first time that such discriminatory practices have crept
into the functioning of the official electronic media. |
SC allows EC to mix ballots NEW DELHI, Oct 5 (PTI) — The Supreme Court today stayed the Kerala High Court judgement directing the Election Commission to boothwise count the votes in the Lok Sabha constituencies in the state thus allowing the commission to employ the traditional method of first mixing the ballots and then counting them. The stay order was given by a three-Judge Bench comprising Chief Justice A.S. Anand, Justice S. Rajendra Babu and Justice R.C. Lahoti while hearing a special leave petition challenging the high court order. The Bench also issued notices to Congress candidate for Kannur Lok Sabha seat Mullapally Ramachandran and Independent candidate for Alappuzha Lok Sabha seat Ashok Kumar on whose petitions the high court had directed the EC to conduct boothwise counting. Appearing for the commission, senior advocate Fali S. Nariman contended that according to an earlier ruling by the Supreme Court, no court could intervene in the election process once it had commenced. Mr Nariman said as counting of ballots also formed a part of the election process under Article 329(b) of Constitution, the Kerala High Court erred by issuing a direction to the commission and the Chief Electoral Officer of the state to conduct boothwise counting and not to mix the ballot papers as had been done in the 1996 and 1998 Lok Sabha polls. He said the mixing of the ballots was done to protect the voters of a particular area from being identified and harassed by the defeated candidates and the necessary notification was issued by the commission on September 28 which was duly gazetted the next day. The commission in its
petition said the procedure for counting of the ballots
was taken by it after "careful consideration of the
reports of the Chief Electoral Officers in various parts
of the country to prevent possible intimidation of
electors from a particular polling area". |
Disability 2000 campaign NEW DELHI, Oct 5— India’s disabled population of 60 million can see a new ray of hope at the threshold of the new millennium. The Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People has decided to launch a Disability 2000 campaign in collaboration with voluntary organisations working in the same sector. The Executive Director
of the centre, Mr Javed Abidi told newspersons here today
that the campaign was an extension of the disability
movement started by a small group of individuals and NGOs
towards the end of 1980. |
Ghalib’s ‘haveli’ wall collapses NEW DELHI, Oct 5 (UNI) —A wall of the Mirza Ghalib’s ‘haveli’ here collapsed today, according to Shahjehanbad manch convener Naved Yar Khan. In spite of a Delhi High Court order for restoration of the ‘haveli’, the Delhi Government was yet to comply with it, he said. The Lt-Governor had
issued a notification acquiring the site, but the
possession was still pending. |
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| Bandh affects life in
Assam GUWAHATI: Normal life was affected in Assam on Tuesday by a 10-hour bandh called by the Asom Yuva Parishad, the youth wing of the ruling Asom Gana Parishad, even as a repoll was on at two polling stations in the Kaliabor constituency. The bandh, which began at 5 a.m., was total in the Brahmaputra valley, but had lesser impact in lower Assam’s Kokrajhar and the hill districts of Karbi Anglong and North Cachar hills, official sources said. — PTI Cauvery stir: 1586
farmers held Journalist dead Lawyers give 28
lakh for fund BMW case: bail
for Sanjiv Nanda 5 killed in
encounter |
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